I chose Intermediate last time, so if I choose Advanced, I may get Level 4 Kobolds, or I can just ask…
“Advanced and if possible, I want to Fight Level 4 Kobolds, beginning with one and then increasing at a steady rate?”
The world began to form as before and maybe in about a hundred times of doing this, it would get old but not that day. I was still amazed at how New York just appeared and expanded, and I am in a small apartment in Bed-Stuy. Or at least, I was…
I began walking and with no Mini Map, I kept my eyes peeled, because I did not want to be surprised and yet… I was.
A Kobold just stormed out of a store, I think, because I didn’t even see where it came from… it was that fast. Its rust-and-bone gauntlets caught the light in jagged flashes. I jumped left, but it lunged low and swiped my ribs. The claws tore through skin, shallow but burning. Luckily it wasn’t deep. Luckily…
I activated Fleetstep and darted sideways, speed surging through my legs. The Kobold spun with surprising agility for its barrel-shaped body, charging again.
Freeze.
The spell caught its legs mid-motion, locking it in a squat lunge. Its breath misted, eyes narrowing in a silent snarl.
I backed up, found clear footing, and unleashed Arc Lash. The whip of mana cracked forward, smashing into its chest and jolting arcs of lightning across the gauntlets. It staggered but didn’t fall. I circled warily, letting the mana flow back into my hands before stepping in with Mana Slash — three rapid strikes that carved shimmering trails in the air, the final swing unleashing a wave of force that scorched the dust between us.
The ice shattered. The Kobold roared and came at me like a battering ram. I sidestepped, but it got me again — not enough to knock me down, but enough to jolt the breath from my lungs.
Mana Shield. The shimmering barrier flared just in time to stop the next gauntlet strike. The shield cracked and burst under the impact.
I waited for the mana to surge back, then used Stun. It froze mid-step. I swung my staff in a quick strike and followed with another Arc Lash, the lightning dancing along its shoulders.
It was tired and wounded, but so was I. And my mana reserves were scraping the bottom. One more charge from it could end this… or one more perfect hit from me could drop it.
The Kobold snarled low in its throat, the sound more like a grinding chain than an animal. Then it lunged.
I had no mana for another Arc Lash. Not yet. My heartbeat matched the pounding of its steps. Four seconds, maybe five, until enough energy returned. Too long if I stood still.
I moved, circling left, using a vehicle as cover. The Kobold swerved after me, clumsily smashing against the car. My mana climbed — five, six… one more.
It stumbled up and went for me again. I moved back, back to the end of the vehicle and paused before the Kobold charged again.
I threw my whole weight into a sidestep, moving in front of the bumper. As its bulk slid past, claws raking the street, I lashed out — one final Arc Lash.
The whip lightning bursting from the impact and crawling up its gauntlets. The Kobold spasmed, limbs locking for a heartbeat before it toppled forward, crashing into the dirt
I stood there, chest heaving, the last threads of Fleet step’s magic fading from my legs. My mana pool was empty, my wounds ached, and my hands still tingled from the force of that final strike.
I was exhausted but I could not stop. I have the fight the real Kobolds in the real world. I just hope the part in description of the Crystal namely ‘without risk of real-world harm’ is accurate and true.
I am just hoping I will not die… Damn, I am ready to wish upon a star or whatever.
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I re-evaluated my fight and then realised that I am not hurt. My clothes are not even torn.
I then got back to really re-evaluating my first fight. I did good but I was too slow. The Kobold was just too fast, and it had wicket claws. I had to find a way to either move faster or … and avoid getting sliced and diced.
I must immobilise the Kobold before he gets too close and it was fast. I just had to do better.
I saw a Kobold a block or so ahead of me.
I stormed the Kobald, and I died. That was not an easy thing. I felt the pain, and I felt the death. The darkness for a split second.
I was back in New York again and I was not dead, but it spooked me so much…
“End the practice… End the scenario.”
I checked the time. I had a few hours before I would be talking to Claire. I needed my rest but first, a shower and some lovely pre-packed food from the system.
I lay on my bed, naked as I did not have boxers, only the stupid clothing the system provided. I just needed to … chill.
I must have fallen asleep because the buzzing of the Com Crystal woke me.
“Hi Claire.” My voice was still heavy with sleep, slow and uneven, like it hadn’t quite caught up to me yet.
She stayed quiet for a moment, then her voice came through warm and teasing. “Were you sleeping again?”
A low laugh slipped out of me, still half-drowsy.
“Sorry, I… it would appear to become a habit, but I do have good reason. I died… in my exercise program.”
There was a sharp pause, as if she’d sat up straight on the other end, and then her words tumbled out—light at first but with a thin edge of unease. “Are you kidding me. We can die?... You are not dead. I don’t understand.”
“Yeah, it did not stick, but it was very disconcerting,” I said, rubbing the sleep from my voice.
“I did not get that far… but I… I don’t know how to feel about that. Dying and then not dying,” she admitted, her usual lively tone dimming into uncertainty.
“How was your experience with the ‘Illusion realm’?” I asked, steering us toward safer ground.
“It was brilliant and wonderful, but also very scary,” she replied, the brightness returning, though a trace of that earlier worry lingered in her voice.
“How was your exercise? I was put in New York and… it helped me a lot.”
We spoke for a long while, trading thoughts about… well, everything. Life had grown so much more complicated by then, yet we still found those small, precious moments to simply talk—even if the subject was only the magic of this new world.
I just rolled over after our talk ended and fell asleep. I did decide to do another exercise run the next morning before going out. I needed to do better.
The next day began earlier than usual for me. Darkness still pressed against the windows, but I was determined to get it right this time—and something as small as dying wasn’t going to stop me.
Steps creaked underfoot as I made my way down, thoughts turning over in my head. The Kobold was fast, but it had trouble adjusting mid-attack. Somehow, I needed to make that weakness work in my favor.
With the morning still young, breakfast could wait until after my next skirmish with the Kobolds.
I enter the simulation without the fanfare of the day before. My mind was more on how to beat that damn Kobold than admiring the magic.
Like before, New York unfolded before me, its avenues lying bare in the pale daylight, the dead streetlights standing like useless sentries. I set out immediately to find a Kobold—and spotted one sooner than expected.
This time, I didn’t let my attention fix solely on the creature. My gaze swept the area. If I was going to win, I needed to fight smarter, using whatever the environment offered. A car stood to my right, another just behind me. I didn’t yet know how, but I could use them.
The Kobold spotted me and lunged forward, quick as a whip. I stepped back fast, positioning myself in front of the nearest car.
It was a tactic I’d started testing the day before; now I just needed to perfect it. I cast Stun and darted to the right. The Kobold’s talons sliced the air inches from my face—but missed.
I sprang onto the car’s bonnet and spun to face it, following up with a Mana Slash that carved across its back and side. It roared, swiping at me, but I sprang again—numbly, or maybe just hoping for numbness—up to the roof.
Another Mana Slash flew from my hands, this one scoring its chest. The Kobold snarled and scrambled up after me. I waited until it was fully on the roof, then vaulted over the back and dropped to the street.
An Arc Lash cracked through the air, curling back into the Kobold. It staggered—injured now. One last Mana Slash drove into it before I retreated to the second car, ready for its next move.
The Kobold reacted slower than before, but it still reacted and jumped down the car. I was ready, using freeze and three quick Mana Slashes. I had not yet used Fleetstep, keeping it in reserve unless it was truly needed.
The Kobold stumbled and did not get up. It was not yet dead, but I was sure it was truly defeated. I stepped forward and ended its life with a clean, deliberate strike from my staff.
It hadn’t slowed, and I hadn’t gained any new stats. Yet it fell easier than it had the day before. The only real change was me. I was using what I had more effectively — spacing my strikes, controlling my mana, forcing it to fight on my terms. I’d studied its rhythm, leaned into its predictable momentum, and punished it every time it committed too far.
I wasn’t stronger. I was simply smarter. I was fighting better, not harder.
All I had to do was repeat it — and I did, three times. By the end, I felt sure I could pull off the same feat in the outside world, the real one.
I’d told myself I was lucky to have advanced this far before ever using the simulation. But no… not lucky. I’d been fighting safe targets, enemies I could study and adapt to without the finality of real consequences. Yes, I got hurt, but I was never one mistake away from being gone.
I only raised the stakes when I knew I couldn’t die. That wasn’t luck — it was caution. And who could blame me? You don’t walk away from death.
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